Process for treating felt cloth.



No Drawing.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE E. SHEVILL, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK; MARY EL, SHEVILL EXECUTRIX 0E SAID GEORGE E. SHEVILL, DECEASED.

PROCESS FOR TREATING FELT CLOTH.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE-R, SHEVILL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Processes for Treating Felt Cloth, of which the following is a specification.

, Myinvention consists of a new and improved process for preparing or sizing felt cloth or felt for hats, bonnets, slippers, hoods and other articles so that the felt when treated with my preparation will retain its shape and be firm without being made hard or stifi. The felt treated with my process is particularly. adaptable for making felt hats.

Felt hats have heretofore been made out of felt cloth by first sizing the cloth with either a solution of glue or shellac, or a combination of both. Thenwhen dried the felt is mulled and pressed into shape on a hot stamp die. The result of this process has been that the hat so produced is stifi and it has been impossible to make what are termed soft hats in this way, because, if the solution of glue or shellac, or both, were made thin enough to leave the felthat soft, then there would not be body or firmness enough in the hat for it to retain its-shape, and felt treated with glue or shellac renders the felt so hard that the felt cannot be stamped into a soft hat as can be doneby my process. I

Soft felt hats heretofore made have been made out of what are termed bodies, cones or hoods, which are hats partially formed in the process of making the felt, or, in other words, the W001 is felted into the shape of a hat or into ashape very near to a, hat, so that when the cone or body or hood is given alight sizing of glue or shellac, or both, the

.hat will hold its shape, in other words, the

hats are shaped in the felting process.

By treating felt with my process it is possible to get the felt into'such condition that a hat may be readily stamped orblocked out from a piece of felt with the result'that wehave a soft felt hat made much more readily and cheaper than can be done in the way which has been heretofore practised, and at the same time the hat will retain its shape in all conditions of weather and temperature.

My process consists essentially of placing about five ounces of gum tragacanth in about twelve quarts of water and allowing it tov Specification 'of Letters Patent.

Patented July 14, 1914.

Application filed August 22, 1912. Serial No. 718,331.

remain there until it obtains a consistencyof soft soap'. The felt is then immersed through this solution of gum tragacanth until the felt becomes thoroughly saturated, when it is then passed through squeezerollers and the excess of water and gum tragacanth is eliminated by means of the squeeze rollers, or instead of passing the felt through the squeeze rollers the excess water and gum tragacanth may be thrown off by centrifugal action. If it is desired to have a substance with a little more firmness than obtained by gum tragacanth a small portion of gum dammar may be added. In sizing white felt a bleach may be added if necessary, and in sizing colors acids or other mordant may be added to brighten or set the color if desired or necessary.

In preparing the felt cloth for hats the sizing is made as heretofore stated by placing about five ounces of gum tragacanth in about twelve quarts of water until it is of a consistency of soft soap or until it is all soft, then it is strained and put into an ordinary sizing tub and heated to any desired temperature so as to permeate the cloth more completely. The felt cloth is then taken and immersed and thoroughly saturated and afterward put through the ordinary squeeze rollers attached to eliminate the excess of water and then dried. VV hen dry it is cut into the desired size and mulled, which is the term used for laying up with damp cloths;'when mulled to the proper state it is then taken and pressed into the required shape in a hot die in a stamp press (as is done with the old style sizing) it is then left in the die until ,dryl We then have ahat which instead of being hard and stifi, which is the case in all other forms of sizing, is soft and pliable, and will keep its shape as well, if not better than if it had been made out of the body, hood or cone which had to be first felted or made into shape. It will be seen that by use of my invention a soft hat is obtained without first making the felt into a body, hood or cone.

1 do not .wish to confinemyself as to the so sized it will be unneccssary'to size it again after the cloth is finished. The felt when treated with this process is practically impervious to water and also to heat and retains the form or shape into which it is pressed. As an exam le of the quantity for various weights of elt I mi ht say that four yards of felt sixty-four inc es wide and weighin about twenty-six ounces to the yard wifi absorb the solution of five ounces of tragacanth to twelve quarts of water.

' clainizv 1. The process'of sizing felt cloth with gum tragacanth dissolved in water so that the gum tragacanth becomes incorporated in and a part of the felt cloth and made a part of the felt.

2. Theprocess of sizing felt cloth with Copies of this patent may be obtained for 1m tragucanth and gum dammar dissolved 1n water so that the gum tragacanth and m dammar become incorporated in and form a part of the felt cloth.

3. The recess of sizing felt cloth, hoods, bodies and cones with um tragacanth and gum dammar dissolved 1n water so that the gum tragacanth and gum damm'ar become mcorporated in and form part ofthe cloth, and adding thereto bleach for white felts and acids and mordant for colors.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE E. SHEVILL. Witnesses \VM. E. HARLAND, Cums. H. Amrs'rannr.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents- Waahinrton, ID. 0." 

